The Death Toll Of The Rohingya Ship Drowned So 11 People, Dozens Of People Still Wanted

JAKARTA - Malaysia's maritime patrols searched the coastal waters of the Andaman Sea on Monday to search for dozens of members of Myanmar's Rohingya minority who were missing as a result of their sinking ship. Currently, the death toll from the accident has increased to 11 people.

Hundreds of Rohingya residents boarded a ship to Malaysia two weeks ago, before being divided into several groups and boarded two ships on Thursday last week, said Khairul Azhar Nuruddin, the police chief on Langkawi Island, Malaysia.

Long been persecuted in predominantly Buddhist Myanmar, predominantly Muslim Rohingya face an escalation of violence in their war-torn homeland and worsening conditions in dense refugee camps in neighboring Bangladesh, where 1.3 million of them live.

There were about 70 people on the ship that sank near Langkawi, while the fate of the other ship carrying 230 passengers is still unclear, according to Malaysian authorities. They have found 13 survivors and seven bodies.

In neighboring Thailand, authorities have found four bodies, including two Rohingya girls, a maritime security official said.

"The Navy and the Thai Sea Police have carried out additional inspections," Sakra Kapikarn, governor of the Satun province in southern Thailand, told Reuters.